


Artificial Nocturne

by lightace



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hunger Games Setting, F/F, I promise a happy ending, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-17
Updated: 2014-04-17
Packaged: 2018-01-19 19:02:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 21,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1480624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightace/pseuds/lightace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma Swan is reaped as a tribute in the 22nd Hunger Games, and she's determined to do the best she can, even win if she can manage it, although no one expects she'll even make it past the bloodbath; Regina Mills is just trying to survive, and if she has to kill the other tributes to keep herself or her brother safe, she's not going to hold back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Betaed by the lovely ohthesefeelingz on tumblr whose email I accidentally ignored for two weeks by checking the wrong email account like an idiot. I'm really sorry.
> 
> Incredible thanks to tumblr users antisocialgod (below) and ecchymoz (link at the end) for their amazing artwork for this story!
> 
> Title from the Metric song of the same name.
> 
>   
> **Art by** [antisocialgod](http://antisocialgod.tumblr.com).  
>   
> 

Tributes from District One are rarely the ones drawn from the giant, glass bowl. Someone always volunteers if whoever’s name is called doesn’t wish to participate. The Games are viewed simply as a competition for them to win. If they win, they are immortalized forever in One, but if they fail, their names are wiped from the history books, never to be spoken of again.

Such is the way in District One.

Mulan’s name is drawn, but no one volunteers. She had excelled in almost every skill in the training all kids in One took before they became old enough to be Reaped; all had faith she could win.

Robin volunteers with a smile so smug the viewers in the other districts hate him immediately. He swaggers up to the stage and bows, and in that moment, he earns the hatred of his opponents as well.

/

The tributes from Two are always Capitol favorites. They are always adored simply because of the district they hail from, and the tributes take advantage of this fact to draw on as many sponsors as possible. In the arena, they never want for anything.

Regina Mills’ name is drawn from the bowl, and she strides forward to the stage without an ounce of hesitation. On the stage, she stands tall with confidence and to everyone’s surprise, her expression doesn’t change even the slightest bit when the other tribute volunteers.

Graham Humbert is a scrawny boy who had been orphaned before he was five and had lived with the Mills ever since. They had found him sleeping on their doorstep one morning, and at their daughter’s insistence, they had raised him as their own. As he stands beside Regina on stage, he holds his head high, unaffected by the mutterings in the crowd that he’ll be the first Career to be killed.

/

Reapings in Three are always subdued. Their tributes are not Careers, are not trained for the Games before they’re able to walk. No, the tributes of Three are calculating, making plans even before they enter the arena. But sometimes, there are exceptions.

Both tributes this year are two such exceptions. The Reaping is barely over before people are muttering that Neal Cassidy will more likely kill himself than fall prey to another tribute.

/

Orphans are not a rarity in Four. Parents are killed more often than they should be on the seas as they fish. Storms capsize boats, and children are left orphaned for the district to raise.

Belle French is almost the complete opposite. Both her parents still live, being merchants in town instead. She shakes on the way to the stage and gratefully takes the male tribute’s hand when he takes the stage and offers it. On the way home from the Reaping, people tut that it’s such a shame a nice girl like her was Reaped.

Killian Jones is one of the orphans, but like most of them, he is more than capable of taking care of himself despite his young age. Without parents, orphans are pushed into jobs much faster than the luckier children, and as such, Killian is no stranger to danger. In fact, he welcomes it.

/

Reaping day in Five is freezing, and snow is falling as the children gather in the square at the top of the mountain.

The two tributes shiver on the stage and clutch their jackets around them as the rest of the district watches them pityingly.

/

Nobody speaks much in Six during the Reaping. The only sounds are usually the families of the chosen tributes crying, but even those sounds are muted compared to some of the other districts.

The tributes are chosen, and as they stand on the stage and look out at the crowd, they can’t hear their pity, but they can see it in their eyes. Jefferson glares and scowls and doesn’t want it.

/

Children in Seven begin learning their trade before they are old enough to be reaped, so axes are always available in the Cornucopia. Whether the appropriate tribute reaches them, though, is a different story.

Ruby Lucas does her best to hide her shaking as she climbs the stairs to the stage. She’s thin, but her diminutive appearance belies the strength gained from working in the lumber yards and a childhood racing along tree branches.

August Booth is her friend, and they smile at each other in a way that is clearly anything but happy, but they clasp hands as they’re ushered from the stage.

/

Usually, the tributes from Eight arrive at the Capitol dressed in clothing as shabby as the poorest districts. The sponsors always whisper amongst themselves as to the reason why, rarely knowing that all the products that are made in the district are shipped to the Capitol for their use.

The two reaped from Eight this year are different, children of the wealthier merchants in the district. They are dressed in their best, and it’s immediately obvious. Aurora and Phillip are sure to be well-received at the Capitol for simply being a change of pace.

/

Nine is hot, and everyone is sweating as the names are drawn, but that doesn’t stop the tributes from shaking as they walk to the stage..

Both are small and thin like everyone else in the district, and no one even attempts to convince themselves that either of them have any chance at winning.

/

Reaping Day in Ten is always dreaded by the Capitol officials that have to travel there; the smell of livestock hangs thick in the air, choking the outsiders, and it’s always sweltering hot.

Emma Swan is chosen, and as she walks to the stage, everyone on stage from the Capitol holds their breath in preparation for the onslaught of animal smell.

She is joined by David Nolan, who tries his best to smile but ends up looking like he’s about to hurl. The Capitol representatives all take a step back from him.

/

Children in Eleven are luckier than some of the other districts. Because of the high population, there are more slips of paper in the bowl than any other district. The odds of being picked are very slim, even if they apply for tesserae.

The female tributes is as white as a sheet, and Sidney Glass looks sick as he stands on stage, and every other child in the district is just happy it’s those two up there and not them.

/

Coal dust is absolutely everywhere in Twelve, and the Capitol representatives complain every year that the dust clings to their bodies and clothes and that they keep finding it over a month later.

Both tributes are horribly thin and dirty, and their handler tries and fails to hide their disappointment at the chosen.

/

For the Careers, it’s always a short trip to the Capitol, and when they arrive, the people of the Capitol are already waiting, clamoring for a chance to see the Careers in person before the Tribute Parade.

There are a few duds this year - Graham and Belle, that is - but the rest inspire great enthusiasm in the crowd. Robin and Killian smile and wave at the crowd when they emerge, already charming them and attracting sponsors before the other tributes have even arrived.

As well, Mulan and Regina attract attention despite their lack of interaction or even acknowledgement of the crowd. The crowd sees it as confidence, the thought that these Careers feel they could do well enough in the arena to not have to attract sponsors. The action earns them some without even having to try.

The next districts to arrive are Three and Five, but by now, part of the crowd has already dispersed, heading home to prepare for the Parade that night after finding the tributes of the other districts unworthy of their time.

Neal Cassidy attracts some attention by being the complete opposite of what tributes from Three usually are. He stands on the platform and gazes out on the crowd with obvious awe. When he hesitantly waves, unsure of how to appropriately respond, some of the potential sponsors that were previously unsure of him find themselves intrigued by this enigma of Three.

Oppositely, as Greg Mendell steps out of the train, he freezes at the sight of all the people waiting to see them. It’s obvious he’s anything but confident like most of the tributes up to this point, and any lingering interest some may have in him dwindles away quickly.

Tributes from Seven are always exciting for the Capitol to watch. Because they begin learning the trade of their district so early, if a tribute manages to get hold of an axe, a good show is always assured. As such, when the tributes from Seven arrive, the size of the crowd has swelled again, and those amassed cheer loudly when the tributes step off the train.

Both are surprised by the people waiting to see them, but they recover quickly and smile and wave. The crowd soaks it up, and by that action alone, the tributes of Seven have attracted the attention of sponsors.

Seven is the last district to produce any initially worthwhile tributes, so by the time Eight and Nine arrive, the crowd has thinned considerably. Even the fact that the tributes from Eight are better dressed than usual cannot hold the attention of the Capitol sponsors.

The crowd has dwindled even more as the tributes from Ten, Eleven, and Twelve arrive. Only a few sponsors remain; most of the people left are simply viewers of the Games, eager for a first look at the tributes.

Most of them are bored by this point, though, despite their desire to be the first to see the tributes. The majority of them simply give the tributes a once-over before returning to their conversations, underwhelmed by the sight of the tributes but happy that they will be able to brag that they were some of the first to see them in person.

“Come on,” Emma says to David as his face falls when the Capitol people look away after barely sparing him a glance. For a moment, he’d thought that they had actually taken an interest in him. “It’s not them we need to impress.”

Emma turns and stalks away, and after one more glance at the uninterested crowd, David slouches after her.

/

The next few hours are spent with the tributes being cleaned up by their prep teams and shoved into costumes ranging from incredible to something they have to be forced into because they’re so horrible.

“Cowboys?” Emma remarks with more than a bit of bite as she stares at her costume in a nearby mirror. She glances over her shoulder at her stylist and scowls. “Really? This is the best that you could come up with?”

Her stylist glares at her and snaps, “Well, it’s not like anyone from Ten ever wins, so if it makes you feel better, no one will remember what costume you wore in the Parade.”

Emma glares at him for a few more seconds before turning away. They’re supposed to be attracting sponsors at the Parade; the better the first impression, the easier it will be to attract sponsors for the arena.

Being dressed as a cowboy - a costume which has been done for the past ten years, mind you - isn’t likely to attract anyone’s attention. Not when the tributes from One looked like ancient Egyptian pharaohs, and the tributes from Two were dressed in elaborate costumes typical of the royalty that existed before the Capitol and the districts. All eyes would be on the Careers instead of them, and they already had enough sponsors by simply showing up.

David is dressed in a similar getup when she sees him as they board the chariot for the parade; he smiles sympathetically when he sees her. “Cowboys again, huh?”

“Yeah,” Emma grumbles as the steps onto the chariot, ignoring David’s proffered hand. “They’re almost as original as Seven.”

She glances at the two tributes for emphasis, and when David follows her gaze, he smiles again. Seven is famous for dressing their tributes as trees every year, and sure enough, the tradition hasn’t been broken this year. Both Ruby and August are standing in their chariot looking like they would rather be anywhere else right now, and Ruby looks like she could breath fire.

“Point taken,” David says, turning back to Emma. “I bet those things are itchy too. At least our costumes are comfortable.”

“Speak for yourself,” Emma grumbles, pulling at her tight shirt for emphasis. Everyone wears loose clothing in Ten; it’s easier to move in it. This stuff feels like it’s trying to crush her insides.

David gives her a sympathetic look. “It’s only for a few minutes,” he tries to sooth her, but Emma just grunts and turns to glare at the backs of the Careers.

Within the minute, the doors open for the Parade, and the horses start forward without being prompted. They’ve obviously been trained for this specific purpose; Emma wonders what family they had originally belonged to before they came here.

The roar of the crowd upon seeing them is deafening, and Emma tries to smile and look less hostile. Next to her, David is smiling and waving like he’s done this entire life, and it’s obvious he’s charming parts of the crowd by doing so. Emma, however, is not as naturally charming.

“Your smile looks like you’re in pain,” David murmurs through his smile as they pass the halfway point of the parade.

“That’s because I am,” she shoots back, and he laughs loudly. The sound makes it easier for Emma to smile, and she tries to freeze the action as they reach the end of the parade route and line up for the president to speak.

The president is a smaller man than expected; they must do something to make him look bigger on television because Emma is pretty sure he looked less scrawny the last time she saw him on the last Victory Tour.

His lack of intimidating appearance, however, is remedied by the fact that the president is the most powerful person in Panem, and Gold exudes enough presence to overwhelm anyone in the general vicinity.

He makes the usual speech, one Emma practically has memorized after so many forced viewing of the Games, and then they’re off into the nearest building to be taken up to the rooms they’ll be staying in before the Games.

As soon as the doors close behind them, Emma is off the chariot and stripping as much of the stupid costume that she can without attracting unwanted attention. She gets some anyway, however, when she looks up from taking off the too-small jacket and finds Killian Jones leaning against their chariot and smiling at her.

She can immediately tell that he’s going to be entirely unpleasant to interact with, and when he opens his mouth and speaks, she’s not disappointed. “So eager to lose the costume, are we? Shame, I kind of liked it.”

“Why don’t you wear it then?” she shoots back, but Killian’s smile only widens. He holds out a hand, and she throws the hat in his face; he only laughs and places it on his head.

It’s too small for his head and he looks absolutely ridiculous in it, but Emma holds back her derisive laugh and continues to frown at him instead.

“You always this friendly?” he asks, crossing his arms and leaning forward into her personal space. She leans back away from him.

Emma’s savior comes in the form of a girl who looks too young to even be here. “Leave her alone, Killian,” she chides and smacks the boy on the arm. Killian frowns but obediently stands up straight.

The girl gives Emma an apologetic look before gripping Killian’s upper arm and dragging him away, and once they’re out of earshot, David laughs from where he’s sitting on the edge of the chariot taking off the stupid cowboy boots they’ve put them in - no one wears these things back home because they’re too uncomfortable to work in, but obviously no one has told their stylist.

“He took your hat,” he remarks when Emma looks at him, and he’s smiling in a way that tells her he had found the sight as amusing as she had. “He looks great in it, doesn’t he?”

“Wonderful,” Emma agrees with a roll of her eyes.

/

“Did people actually wear this?” Graham asks as they board the elevator to their floor. He’s pulling on the elaborate neckline of his coat, looking bewildered. “How did they ever lead any army like this?”

“They didn’t,” Regina replies, and he looks at her with wide eyes. “They sent others to lead for them. Their job was mainly to sit there and look regal; the latter ones didn’t even have any actual power.”

Graham hums curiously and continues picking at his costume in an attempt to understand how to take it off. There are so many layers that it might just be easier to cut him out of it, but he looks so intrigued by it, he’ll likely want to save it to look at later.

If the Capitol were to see him like this, Regina’s not sure what they would think of him. Would they be amused by his lack of knowledge or would they sneer at him for it? She has long since wondered if Graham had come from another district originally because he had none of the usual traits of people from Two.

He doesn’t remember anything before being taken in by her family, though, so she’s certain she will never have a definite answer to her question. Hopefully if he acts like this during his interview, the Capitol will just take it as him being purposefully obtuse instead of honestly not knowing. The tributes from Two are always favorites, but if he acts like a child, he’ll lose sponsors quickly.

Their mentors and handler are eyeing him in a way that’s obvious they’re writing him off as a lost cause, and for no other reason than family pride, Regina wants him to do well in the games. She wants to prove that he’s just as capable as the rest of the Careers despite the fact that he isn’t very threatening.

/

The first day of training is the next day, and it’s the first time that all of the tributes officially meet. From the first moment Emma steps into the room, she knows she’s completely in over her head. There’s a Career with a sword over in the corner slicing training dummies so brutally she feels sick and another hitting every target perfectly with a bow and arrow.

“We’re so dead,” she mutters, but as per usual, David just smiles and takes everything in stride.

He pats her on the shoulder and says, “Don’t count yourself out yet,” and ushers her over to the nearest station, fire making.

David is a natural at it, of course, but Emma has more than a bit of difficulty and turns down every offer for help until she finally has a small flame burning several long minutes and numerous failed attempts later.

“At least you made one,” David offers as she crushes out the small fire under her boot in frustration. If she’d been in the arena, she’d have been discovered and killed by now. “Try again. It should be easier this time.”

/

It’s common knowledge that Careers are well-versed in combat, so there’s no reason for any of them to hide their abilities. Most of them head to their best stations and show off for a while and then spend the remainder of the three days scoping out anyone they believe may be competition.

Regina spends about ten minutes at the knives station hitting every bullseye for it before throwing one and hitting the target for the bow and arrow station. Robin eyes her for a moment before smiling and motioning her over.

He pulls back the string and shoots as she reaches him, and it hits the bullseye despite the knife also sticking out. Regina looks at the two weapons sitting less than an inch from each other before turning her attention to Robin and remarking, “It’s odd to see a Career that uses a bow.”

Robin shrugs and notches another arrow. “I thought I’d change things up, come in with a weapon the others aren’t expecting.” He releases the arrow and it hits the target; Robin doesn’t look affected by the perfect shot at all and just sets the bow back on its stand and turns to survey the room.

“The Careers are weaker than usual this year,” he remarks, nodding at Belle, who’s standing at a nearby station looking completely overwhelmed. “Why didn’t someone volunteer for her? She’s going to shame her district when she gets killed immediately.”

He’s obviously already written Belle off as a lost cause, and Regina’s about to agree with him when she sees her brother cross the room and offer Belle help. She frowns.

“Is he as weak as he looks?” Robin asks, and Regina follows his eyes to learn he’s watching her brother as well. “If he is, I’ll be surprised. He doesn’t strike me as very dangerous. Surely there must have been someone else eager to take his place.”

“He wanted to come,” Regina offers evenly, and when Robin glances at her, she makes a point to not look at him.

He chuckles, though there’s no warmth in the sound. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to insult your brother. It’s just that his presence leaves something to be desired.”

“He’s nice to everyone,” she answers his unspoken question, and Robin chuckles coldly again before picking up the bow and stringing an arrow with practiced ease.

“So he is.” And she can tell he thinks it a weakness.

/

“What do you think?” Regina asks later as they’re returning to their rooms for the night.

Graham frowns and picks at his nails. “I would say yes, but Killian Jones is an ass I’d rather not associate with. He laughed at Belle whenever she tried to do something; I don’t like him.”

“Robin’s not exactly pleasant either. That’s a no, then?”

“Yeah, that’s a no.”

/

The next day, Regina and Graham stay together, and he practices with a few weapons before settling on the spear. He’s a natural with it, it turns out, hitting the target more easily with every throw until he barely misses the center.

As he’s practicing, Regina catches Killian watching them from across the room, a deep frown on his face. He’s obviously upset that Graham is using his weapon; it’s rare that Careers favor the same weapon, but when they do, someone always changes.

Sure enough, with a few minutes, Killian is striding over to them, scowling. “I’ve already claimed the spear. Pick something else.”

Graham barely glances at him before chucking a spear at a dummy; it goes clean through its head. As he goes to pick up another spear, Killian reaches out and grabs him by the back of his shirt.

“Hey!” Regina snaps, lurching forward and shoving herself between Graham and Killian and shoving a palm into the latter’s chest so strongly that he stumbles back a pace. “Back off!”

Killian sneers at her but glances up at the gamemakers who are now watching them closely and steps back a pace. “You’re at the top of my list!” he spits at Graham over Regina’s head, then turns and stalks away, shoving any tribute unlucky enough to be in his way.

“Told you he’s an ass,” Graham mutters, hefting a spear and throwing it like he’d been doing it for far longer than just today.

/

The last day of training ends at noon to allow for the individual assessments by the gamemakers. It’s the last real opportunity for the tributes to meet each other before they’re enemies.

As Ten is one of the last districts to go, Emma takes her seat outside the training room and prepares herself to be there for a while. She had already met most of the tributes - excluding the Careers, of course - and had found that she didn’t really like most of them; she would be better off by herself in the arena or with David.

The male tribute from One is called, and from there, it’s a slow process as each tribute is called and given five minutes to show their best skills.

Gamemaker scores can be both good and bad. They’re good because the higher your score, the more likely sponsors will take an interest in you, but for the same reason, an abnormally high score can also attract attention from the Careers, who will quickly place you higher at the top of their kill list.

Emma’s still not sure what she’s going to do for her viewing. She wasn’t particularly adept at anything that would help her survive; maybe she would just stand there for five minutes.

The female from Two is called, and Emma glares at her back and wishes this entire thing would just go faster.

She’d watched the Careers a lot over the past few days, and she feels as prepared as she possibly could to deal with them, though the odds are against her even surviving past the first day.

There are two Careers that seem to be the weak links of the group. One had failed at everything she’d tried to do, and the other only seemed to have picked up a weapon seriously yesterday afternoon. Then there had almost been a fight, which Emma is disappointed had been stopped before it could begin. A Career going in with injures, no matter how minor, would have been a boon to everyone else.

But the girl from Two had stepped between them before Killian could throw a punch, and that was when Emma realized that she didn’t really know anyone’s names. Well, she knew names, but she couldn’t place faces; she’d never decided it was important enough to know.

The two from One are Mulan and Robin, Four is Killian and Belle, and Seven is Ruby and August, but she’d never caught the names of the Careers from Two. Both have already been called, too, so she won’t be finding out that way. She’ll have to ask David or her mentors later.

August is called, then Ruby, then the pair from Eight that had arrived looking better than everyone else. Then it’s David’s turn, and Emma is next and she still has no idea what she’s going to do.

She recalls the girl tribute from Two throwing knives the first day, and well, it can’t be much different from throwing stones, which she had spent a lot of her childhood doing to the cats that had tried to attack the birds outside her house.

Her name is called, and she smiles as she stands. She’s found something to do.

/

Regina doesn’t expect much from the interview scores. It’s obvious after three days of watching the other tributes who will score high and who will not. Except for Seven, most of the other tributes have been unremarkable; one of the tributes from Ten had even taken ten minutes to make a fire the first day.

But she watches anyway, because surprises have happened before, and she wants to go into these games with as much information as she can have.

The scores of both tributes from One are high, of course, and Graham manages an eight, despite only learning how to throw a spear the day before. Regina is given an eight as well, which doesn’t surprise her. The gamemakers focus on physical prowess; she has strength in different areas.

Killian scores a ten, and Belle’s score is so atrocious that Regina is too embarrassed for the girl to even look at the screen when the announcement is made.

The tributes’ scores from Five and Six range from average to below average. That as well is expected, as is the slightly above average score for August of Seven.

She’s pleasantly surprised when Ruby Lucas earns a nine, and she can hear the surprise from the others as well. She’d known that the girl would score well, but she hadn’t expected her score to be as high as a Career’s.

The scores for both tributes from Eight are low, as are the ones from Nine.

Ten, however, is another story. David’s score is a five, average, but it’s not his score that piques her interest.

The female tribute’s score is a seven, and despite herself, Regina is curious. She wants to know what two farmhands from Ten did to impress the gamemakers to give them a score so close to her and Graham, Careers. Neither of them had displayed any special talents publically, and indeed, the girl had had trouble doing something as basic as starting a fire on the first day. It had been painful to watch.

“What was her name?” Regina asks as Eleven’s male tribute is given a score of four.

“Emma Swan,” Graham says, glancing at her with a smile. “Her score is surprising, isn’t it?”

She hums agreement and turns her attention back to the screen as the last of the scores are given. Maybe she shouldn’t have counted Emma off so soon.

/

The interviews are the next night, and Emma spends most of the day being taught how to act during hers. It’s a slow, arduous process, but eventually it’s over and her stylist is forcing her into a dress, which might be even more painful.

She has never worn a dress in her life. Nobody wears them in ten because they’re entirely impractical to work in, so for the Reaping, the girls always wear their best pants instead of dresses like in the other districts.

Luckily, they decide not to put her in heels, which is good because the last thing she wants to do is trip and break her neck before the games even begin.

Finally, her stylist deems her presentable, and Emma is shuffled out to the waiting area with so deep a scowl on her face it’s feared she might never be rid of it.

She makes herself pay attention to the other interviews, hoping that maybe she’ll learn something that will help her survive inside the arena. But Mulan barely says five words the entire time, and Robin spends his entire three minutes bragging about how easily he’ll win and Emma wonders if she should even bother watching any more.

Then Regina is called - Emma had made sure to pay careful attention to names during the score reveals - and has either been taught extraordinarily well by her handler or is simply naturally exceedingly charming. She smiles only a handful of times, and all of them look fake to her, but when her three minutes are up, the crowd cheers louder for her than they had for either tribute from One.

Graham is next, and he smiles through his entire interview and is as effortlessly charming as Regina. For a moment, she wonders why, but then the topic comes up of Regina’s family taking him in as a child, and Emma understands. Graham stumbles his way through that conversation, however, obviously uncomfortable with the topic, and then his time’s up and he steps down from the stage.

He meets Regina at the bottom of the stairs, and Emma wonders how she never noticed that the two of them are oddly close for Careers. The only time they’d been apart had been on the first day when they’d individually talked to the other Careers, but aside from the few hours there, they’ve been inseparable.

Maybe there’s a way she can use that to her advantage if it comes to that. She could use their protectiveness of each other as a way to attack them. If one was injured, the other would obviously stick with them, and if they were with the other Careers, a fight would likely break out over the fact.

Killian charms his way through the interview, and it’s obvious once he’s left that he’s struck the hearts of more than a few women in the crowd. Likewise, there’s something endearing about Belle, the way she’s determined to fight despite her lack of skill at anything, a fact everyone has witnessed over the past three days. She’s the definite weak link of the Careers.

Tiny Greg Mendell shakes as he walks onto the stage, and his interview is largely unremarkable aside from the fact that he looks absolutely terrified at the fact that he’ll be entering the arena in the morning. Unlike the others, he’s not trying to act strong; he’s wearing his weakness for all to see.

Jefferson twitches through his entire interview, and then it’s time for the tributes from Seven.

Ruby is as charming as Killian; as soon as she steps on stage, she’s captured the attention of everyone in the crowd. She’s extraordinarily beautiful, Emma notices, but she’s also from Seven. They’re never to be underestimated; there has to be strength under that beauty.

Her interview goes smoothly, and the crowd roars its disapproval as the buzzer sounds to end her interview. None want to see her go.

After her, August is a let down. He’s nice, sure, but after Ruby, anyone would be a bit of a disappointment. August doesn’t look bothered by the fact, however, just remarks that just because his friend has stolen the hearts of the crowd doesn’t mean he can’t try as well.

Emma hadn’t liked either tribute from Eight upon meeting them, and once they’d both been given low scores, she’d written them off. Neither of their interviews leave an impression on Emma, and it’s obvious from the crowd that one hasn’t been made on them either.

The two from Nine go, and then it’s Emma’s turn. As she climbs the stairs to the stage, she takes a deep breath and forces herself to stay calm and relax. She smiles at the crowd as she emerges, and most of them cheer. Her score has made an impression on them; they’re eager to hear how she earned it.

“A seven,” the interviewer says as soon as she’s sat down, and it’s obvious by his expression that he’s eager to hear the story as well. “Why don’t we start off by you telling us how you earned that? We were all surprised by it, I think?”

“Me too,” Emma says with a laugh, and there are a few chuckles from the crowd. “On the first day, I couldn’t even light a fire properly. But as I was sitting there waiting to be called, I was looking at the other tributes and thinking about what I could do.”

The interviewer holds up a hand and looks at her with wide eyes. “You were sitting there and had no idea what you were going to do?”

“Not a one,” she replies with a rueful smile, and she hears some surprised muttering from the crowd. “But then one of the tributes was called, and I was reminded of what she’d been doing the first day: throwing knives.

“My mother likes birds, so we always had some around the house when I was younger. And cats, as you know, like to eat birds. I didn’t want my mom’s birds getting eaten, though, so I took to throwing rocks at them whenever they crossed into our yard.”

“Ah,” the interviewer says with a nod of his head. “I see.”

She smiles. “It was different, of course, but I quickly grasped it and hit as accurately as I could.”

“Well, you obviously did well,” the interviewer says. “A seven with something you learned on the spot. That’s truly incredible, Emma; perhaps we’ll see a victor from Ten this year?”

He eyes her hopefully, but she shakes her head. “I’m not as good as the others, but I’m going to try. There’s no sense in giving up before it even begins.”

“Wise words, indeed. Emma Swan of District Ten, everyone!”

The crowd cheers, and as Emma stands to head back to the waiting room, she can see that her story has drawn attention to her. She hopes she’s attracted the attention of sponsors as well and not just Capitol residents. The more support she gets in the arena, the better.

She smiles at the crowd once more and then heads down the stairs where she’s surprised to see Regina waiting, a smirk on her face.

“Throwing knives, huh?” she asks, raising an eyebrow. Emma can’t tell exactly what she’s thinking, whether she sees her as a threat or just amusing, but nevertheless, Emma smiles at her.

“Yeah, and apparently, I’m pretty good with them.”

And with that, she brushes past Regina and sits back in her seat to watch David’s interview, acutely aware of Regina watching her from across the room.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Emma only sees David for a few minutes the next morning before they’re herded off to be taken into the arena. She’s too nervous to eat, but she forces down an apple before she’s dragged downstairs and out to a hovercraft.

She and David are shoved onto one with the tributes from Nine, Eleven, and Twelve, but Emma doesn’t pay them any attention. She doesn’t want to look at the faces of the people she’ll be expected to kill within an hour.

The trackers are placed in their arms, and then they’re being herded off the hovercraft and Emma can only exchange a brief, strained smile and mouthed “Good luck” with David before she’s being pushed into a small room filled with only a metal table and the tube that will take her up to the arena.

Her stylist hands her the clothes on the table, and she knows as soon as she feels them that the arena is going is be somewhere cold. This isn’t good news for her; Ten is hot almost year-round. She’s not at all used to cold temperatures.

Sooner than she wants, a voice over the intercom is telling the tributes to enter the tubes, and Emma is shaking as she does so. She’s not sure when she’d started shaking - maybe she’d been doing it since she’d woken up - but she takes a deep breath and tries to stay calm.

That’s when it hits her that she hasn’t even thought this far. She has had a plan up to this point: act nice for the crowd, attract sponsors, and train as much as she can, but she never devised a plan for the arena and her mentors had been useless.

The tube begins lifting her up to the arena, and she can feel the panic returning with double the intensity. She has no plan to speak of, not even a half-formed, idiotic idea in the back of her mind; she’d been so focused on the first part of the games that she’d forgotten to even think about the what she’s going to do when the games actually begin.

Then she’s in the arena, and the first thing she notices is the freezing wind. It slices through her insulated jacket, and she instantly begins to shiver.

Like she’d thought, the arena is covered in a thick layer of snow; she can’t see any signs of life anywhere, no matter where she looks. There’s no grass poking through the snow, the bushes don’t have any leaves, and any trees that aren’t pine are nothing but wood.

She can see some of the other tributes are obviously frightened by the snowy arena and what it means for their survival. There can’t be a lot of wildlife with this much snow and there’s no greenery anywhere, and any water is more than likely frozen.

The buzzer sounds to start the games, and without even taking a second to consider any of the bags of supplies strewn around the Cornucopia, Emma turns and runs as fast as she can toward the treeline behind her.

There’s a scream from somewhere behind her as she runs, and it only makes her faster, and within a few seconds, she’s in the trees and still running - more stumbling really - through the snow.

She stops at a leafless maple tree and crouches at the base of it, shivering from the cold but straining her ears to try and hear someone approaching. She doesn’t want to face anyone right now, not freezing and without any supplies or weapons.

But there’s no sign of anyone, and the sound of the cannon firing startles her. It fires seven times, a lesser number than usual. Everyone must have fled the Cornucopia instead of staying to try and fight this year. Emma can’t help but wish more of them hadn’t been smart; she would have been left with less competition.

She’d turned and ran immediately, so she hadn’t seen who any of who had died. She hadn’t even seen David, she realized with a sudden pain in her chest; for all she knew; he could be one of the bodies being lifted from the arena right now.

The thought is making her sick at her stomach, so she shakes her head and tries not to think about who had just died and wouldn’t be returning home alive.

She does, however, wonder if Regina and her brother are still alive and if they’re with the Careers. Neither of them had seemed overly fond of the other Careers, but alliances had been formed in the arena before among tributes that despised each other.

Maybe Ruby had joined them; her score had been high enough that they surely would have asked her. It’s almost unheard of for the Careers to allow tributes from other districts into the pack, but some from Seven had been part of the group in years past.

Sitting here in the snow thinking isn’t going to help her survive, though, so Emma forces herself to stand up, grimacing at the stiffness that had settled into her joints with how long she’d been crouched there. She has no plan and no supplies, and both of these problems need to be solved or she’ll be dead before the day’s end.

As quietly as she can, she creeps back toward the Cornucopia, hoping that the Careers have left to begin hunting the other tributes and that she’ll be able to sneak back and find a bag of supplies. She’ll take anything she can get at this point.

But the Careers are still there, sorting through the items left behind by the others. There are only four of them, she notices; Regina, Graham, and Ruby had indeed chosen not to join them. The thought makes her feel triumphant; the smaller the Careers pack, the more likely she’ll be able to survive.

There are still four of them, however, and three of them are extremely dangerous. Those aren’t good odds for someone without a weapon and shaking violently from the cold. Charging in for a bag would be suicide; she’ll have to wait.

Nevertheless, she watches the Careers for a few more minutes, eyeing the blankets the Careers have wistfully. After a few minutes, she finally tears her eyes away and heads back deeper into the forest of dead trees.

She’s walks for a while, pulling her jacket as tightly around her as she can to try and stave off as the cold. Despite the jacket’s insulation, though, she’s still freezing, and she can barely feel her feet anymore.

She knocks them against the trunk of a nearby tree a few time to try and get the blood circulating, but when she can’t feel any pain from the impact, she stops. For all she knows, she could be breaking her toes through the boots.

The sun begins setting a short time later, and for lack of a better idea, Emma digs out a hole in the snow and settles herself into it. She’d heard somewhere that snow contained heat as long as it wasn’t touching your skin, so she zips up her jacket and tucks her hands deep into her pockets and huddles in the snow.

It only takes a minute for her to know that she’s not going to get any sleep tonight; she’s far too cold to even think about falling asleep. She’s still shaking and she still can’t feel her feet very well, but the snow does seem to be keeping in some of her body heat and she’s mostly out of the wind.

The sound of the Capitol theme playing brings her attention back to her surroundings, and she watches through a gap in the tree branches as the faces of the dead tributes are shown in the sky.

There are the girls from Three, Five, and Six; the boy from Eight; both from Nine; the female from Eleven; and both from Twelve.

Emma breathes a sigh of relief once the girl from Eleven is shown because it means that David is still alive. It’s a small comfort, but a comfort nonetheless.

The siblings from Two are still alive as well, which isn’t really a surprise. They had both scored high in their private sessions, and they had each other to rely on as well.

What really surprises her is that Greg Mendell from Five has survived. He’d looked terrified every time she’d seen him, but he’d managed to survive the bloodbath. Maybe he’d turned and ran like she had.

The light from the projection goes off, leaving Emma with only the faint light of the moon to see with. She shuts her eyes and takes a breath and tries to control her shivering in the hopes that she’ll be able to get at least a little bit of sleep.

/

As soon as the buzzer sounds, Regina leaps forward and darts toward the nearest bag to her starting position; she quickly loops her arm through a strap and throws it over her shoulder  and grabs the nearby pouch of throwing knives, conveniently placed directly in front of her, before turning and sprinting back the way she’d come.

The trees are the obvious choice to head for. On the other side of the Cornucopia is a rocky, mountainous region that you would have to be insane to enter. Behind her, she can hear the sounds of the bloodbath, but she doesn’t look back and keeps running, hoping her brother is close behind.

She stops almost a minute later a good distance away from the Cornucopia, and Graham bursts through the trees after her not three seconds later. He’s red-faced and wide-eyed, but he’s holding two more bags of supplies in his arms.

He smiles and holds up the bags victoriously, and she returns his smile and pulls her own bag off her shoulders and unzips it.

Together, they have two insulated blankets, several packs of hand warmers, the set of throwing knives, and a set of brass knuckles that Graham had picked up on the way to his two bags.

Regina wonders who had been adept at hand-to-hand as her brother fits the weapons over his fingers, studying them once he has. He takes a few experimental punches as she activates a pack of the handwarmers.

They hike through the trees for a while, hoping to find a water source, though Regina suspects it will be frozen. She doesn’t trust the snow to not be poisoned and she doesn’t want to test it, so they both agree to just leave it alone.

Once the sun begins setting, they stop and dig out a hole in the snow for them to sleep in. Not long after they have, the anthem begins playing, and the faces of the dead tributes are projected into the sky.

“Nobody we didn’t expect,” Graham says once it’s over as he wraps one of the blankets around them. He tucks the other one around their legs. “Both from Ten are still alive.”

“I’d have been disappointed if Emma had died on the first day,” Regina says with a smirk. “She was good enough to pick up a skill she’d never attempted before and score a seven, so she should be good enough to avoid being slaughtered at the bloodbath.”

Graham turns his head slightly to look at her. “You actually believe she’d never thrown a knife before?”

“They aren’t trained with any kind of weapons in Ten; what reason would she have to learn how to throw knives before being Reaped? She was serious.”

She can see Graham thinking about it, and he nods slowly. “I see your point. That’s really incredible, though. Not many people could have pulled it off. She’s definitely something.”

“Indeed,” Regina murmurs, then louder, “I’ll watch first.”

/

Predictably, Emma barely dozes, and it’s a relief to see the first rays of sunlight. It means that she can finally begin moving again and hopefully return to the Cornucopia and steal a bag of supplies.

Her body protests as she stands up out of the hole in the snow and stretches; it feels like her joints had frozen in the night and they don’t take well to movement.

It’s more than likely that her body temperature is dangerously low, so if she can’t steal a bag this morning, she’ll freeze to death before noon.

The fact makes her more determined to steal a bag, and after taking a few minutes to stretch her body and work out the stiffness that had set in during the night, she begins walking back the way she’d come, back toward the center of the arena.

What had been a half-hour hike the day before is turned into something far longer now. Her body feels like it’s turning number with every step she takes, and she ends up staggering drunkenly from tree to tree instead of walking normally.

Eventually though, the Cornucopia comes into view, and she crouches out of sight to see if it’s safe to get closer. At first, she thinks the Cornucopia’s abandoned, but then she sees a fire and a figure seated next to it. Three Careers are hunting while the fourth watches the supplies.

It’s Mulan, she realizes, which isn’t the best news for her. She’d been hoping they would leave Belle in charge of the supplies, but apparently, the Careers had suspected people would return for the bags and had left a more capable fighter instead.

The sudden sound of the cannon makes her heart feel like it’s going to burst out of her chest, and as she turns her head to try and see if the dead tribute is nearby, she sees a plume of smoke on the other side of the Cornucopia and shakes her head. Some idiot tribute had lit a fire, likely to try and warm up, and had subsequently drawn the Careers directly to the location.

Emma is grateful she’s smart enough to know not to start a fire not matter how tempting it might be. She’s still alive right now, frozen as she feels.

In order to keep living, though, she has to get one of those packs either without being noticed or fast enough that Mulan wouldn’t be able to catch her, and in her current condition, Emma suspects she won’t be capable of accomplishing either one.

She takes a deep breath and steels herself to run out into the open - it’s likely suicide, but if she doesn’t try, then she’ll definitely be dead in a few hours - and focuses on the closest bag, a light brown one that reminds her of her family’s horses.

Without giving herself enough time to second guess herself, Emma takes off toward the bag as quickly as she can, which isn’t anywhere as fast as she wants to be. She reaches the bag, though, but as her hand closes around the strap, she feels the hair on her neck prickle and she lifts her head to see Mulan staring right at her.

The sight instills a great panic into Emma, and she turns and stumbles away and prays that Mulan won’t think her worth her time. She keeps a tight grip on the bag as she flees and keeps slogging through the snow until she reaches the treeline.

As she crosses into the dead forest, she can’t hear a pursuer, but she doesn’t stop to check, just keeps moving forward into the trees as fast as she can.

She runs for a while, just running without a chosen direction. What finally stops her is her foot almost sliding out from underneath her. She just barely manages to catch herself before she loses her balance, and it takes a moment for her to realize she’s standing on a frozen stream.

Thanks to some incredible stroke of luck, she’s stumbled across a water source that’s more likely to be safe, if a little harder to tap into. She tiptoes off of the ice back onto the bank and then sits down heavily on the snow.

She’s breathing hard, she realizes, and wonders how long she had been running. That’s not important, though. Finding out what’s inside the bag her life is hinged upon is.

The bag contains exactly two things, an insulated blanket that she immediately wraps around herself and a hunting knife that she carefully slides into her boot for quick access. While it’s not much, it is more than she’d started with, and that’s enough to make her glad that she’d gone back for the bag.

She rests for a little while longer until she’s stopped shivering as badly inside the blanket, and then she pulls her knife out of her bag and slams the hilt against the frozen stream. The impact breaks off a few pieces of ice, and Emma picks one of them up and pops it in her mouth.

It’s cold, of course, but if she’s not going to eat the snow - and she’s not - this is the only source of liquid she has. Slowly, the ice melts, and the water feels good on her parched throat.

Now that she has water, she needs to find food. It’s been almost a full day since she’d eaten, and she’s going to need something to keep her energy up out here. All this running will keep her warm, but it will also burn calories. Maybe her luck will hold and she’ll be able to find something edible.

/

It doesn’t take long for the two of them to locate a river, though it’s predictably frozen completely solid. While she can’t say she’s surprised, Regina is still annoyed at the sight of it. With the Careers undoubtedly on the lookout for smoke - she’d seem some earlier followed by the sound of the cannon - they’ll just have to let it melt in their mouths, and without some kind of container, they don’t have any way of keeping it. They’ll have to stay near the river despite the danger.

They agree to follow the frozen river upstream in the hopes that the source is within the boundaries of the arena, and after using the brass knuckles to break off chunks of ice to eat, they start off again, alert for others now that they’ve located a water source. It’s likely other tributes will be sticking close to it as well, and they can’t afford to be caught off guard.

Some time later, they stop for a break and discuss food options. Neither of them has seen any sight of animals since they’ve been in here, but there has to be some source of food other than what’s at the Cornucopia. Things would be terribly boring if there wasn’t; watching all the tributes starve wouldn’t be good for the ratings.

Just as Graham is suggesting digging in the snow in the hopes of finding a burrow, there’s the sound of snow crunching underfoot, and the two of them turn with their weapons raised to find Ruby and August standing on the other side of the river, the only weapon between them an axe held by Ruby.

For a few minutes, they simply stare at each other, each waiting for another to make the first move. Finally, Regina is the one to lower her weapon, and once she does, Graham reluctantly lowers his fists as well, though his suspicious expression doesn’t fade in the slightest.

“We thought you’d be with the Career pack,” Ruby says, breaking the silence. She slowly lowers her own weapon, but from the fact that her knuckles are white, Regina can tell she still has a tight grip on it.

Regina scoffs. “Of course not. We had no intentions of working with them in here.”

She can’t say she’s surprised that Ruby and August had teamed up together. Everyone knows that they’re good friends, and they had rarely been apart before they’d entered the arena. Alliances are usually considered a waste except in certain situations, but there were some bonds that couldn’t be severed, even in a life or death situation. The four of them were two perfect examples of this fact.

“I wondered if you might not join them yourself, Ruby. I’m sure they asked you.”

Now it’s Ruby’s turn to scoff, and she rolls her eyes as well. “They did, but I told them I’d rather kill myself than team up with them. That put me at the top of their hit list.”

“I’d imagine,” Regina says dryly, and the corner of Ruby’s lip pulls up just slightly. “I’d like to ask then if you would be willing to joining us for a while? Until the Careers split, at least?”

Ruby and August look at each other, and Regina is pleased to see that it looks like they’re both seriously considering her offer. On the first day of training, she had decided that if she was going to join up with anyone, she would take Ruby over any of the others. The girl is strong as well as smart; with the three of them, it will be easy to break up the Career pack if it should come to that.

She’d been completely certain in her plan until the private sessions scores had come out, and then she’d seriously considered asking Emma if the opportunity arose inside the arena. But she had assumed Emma would join up with her district mate, who would only be a hindrance in a fight.

Before either Ruby or August can respond, there’s the sound of a branch cracking, and all of them raise their weapons again, this time aiming them at whoever is heading in their direction.

As soon as she has a clear shot, Regina doesn’t hesitate to throw the knife in her hand, but she’s surprised when her knife is followed by an axe being buried in the tribute’s chest.

The figure collapses to the ground, and Regina hurries over to finish them. As she reaches them, though, the cannon fires, and she’s looking down at Jefferson’s body, a knife in his throat and an axe in his chest.

It’s a gruesome sight, but she reaches down and pulls her knife out of his throat. On closer inspection, she can see flecks of something around Jefferson’s mouth; she frowns and peers at it as Ruby reaches the body and retrieves her axe.

“What happened to him?” she asks, apparently noticing what Regina had. “It looks like he ate something poisonous. I’ve seen someone like that back home after someone ate a poisonous plant, but there aren’t any plants in here, at least that I’ve seen.”

The word poison suddenly makes the pieces click together in Regina’s mind. “The snow,” she says, wiping her knife clean on Jefferson’s jacket and standing. “I suspect the snow is laced with something to make us go to the rivers. That way it’s harder for us to get water.”

Ruby makes a disgusted sound and turns back to where Graham and August are watching them from the riverbank. “Fine. We’ll join you for a while, but if we start to suspect that you’re plotting something, we’re leaving.”

“I believe that’s fair,” Regina says her with a nod, and Ruby returns the gesture before turning and walking back toward the others.

/

There are two faces in the sky that night: Greg Mendell and Jefferson, and Emma wonders if both of them were killed by Careers. Had Jefferson been stupid enough to light a fire too?

She sleeps better that night wrapped in a blanket, but she is up as soon as she can see with the sunlight. The stream is providing her with water, but she still hasn’t eaten. She needs to find something or she’s going to freeze to death because she doesn’t have the energy to move.

The stream eventually widens, and Emma thinks she’s found the river before she realizes that it’s just a pond, frozen of course. It’s also the end of the stream she’s been following, which means she’s either going to have to retrace her steps or find a way to keep the ice cold to take it with her.

If there’s a pond, though, maybe there are animals nearby. They have to get water, and the pond is more likely to not be frozen completely solid.

She takes a few steps toward the pond and as she does, she notices a hole in the ice farther out. That’s a good sign that there are animals nearby that drink from here; now it’s just a matter of finding one and killing it.

Finding it, it turns out, is not the problem. Just as the thought passes her mind, a black nose pops out of the hole quickly followed by the body of a seal, water running off it as it flops onto the surface of the ice.

A seal should be easy to kill, she decides, and pulls her knife from her boot and tries to decide the easiest way to attack it.

As she’s studying the seal, it stares back at her with its big, black eyes, and if she didn’t know better, she’d think it was sizing her up. It’s mostly likely trying to figure out what she is; she doubts gamemakers make it a habit to enter their own arenas once they’re self-sufficient.

No, really, that’s not it, because as soon as Emma takes a step toward the seal, it bares its teeth at her and hisses. She’s not expecting the hostile reaction and takes a startled step back in response, and the move turns out to be a terrible mistake.

In the blink of an eye, the seal has launched itself at her, teeth bared, and considering how fat the thing is, it moves at an incredible speed. Instinctively, she raises her knife and swings it, but that accomplishes nothing except causing the seal to snap and spit at her.

The seal lurches at her again, and she swings her knife at it. Her stupid luck holds and she manages to nick the seal in the side with the blade; it squeals and snaps at her again, obviously enraged that she’d managed to hit it. It manages to sink its teeth into the side of her hand, and she yells and punches at it with her free hand, sending it flying away, teeth ripping free of her hand as it does.

She takes a deep breath and readies herself, ignoring the blood dripping from her hand, and when the seal lunges at her again, she brings the knife up and plunges it into the seal’s underbelly. When she pulls the knife out, blood instantly begins gushing from the wound, and the seal staggers away from her back toward the hole in the ice.

It’s obviously trying to escape, and she hurriedly follows it and puts it out of her misery. Only once she seal is dead and she has blood halfway up her arms does she register the absurdity of being attacked by a bloodthirsty seal; she kneels over the seal’s body and laughs for a few minutes before she gets ahold of herself again.

Unless she wants to eat seal meat raw - and she really doesn’t - she’s going to have to start a fire, and starting a fire will attract others, who will more than likely try to kill her. Another glance at the bloody carcass of the seal, however, is enough to make up her mind, and she carries the dead seal over to the bank before gathering up a few of the dryer branches, cradling her injured hand to her stomach.

She’s grateful for her time spent at the fire-making station, despite how much of an embarrassment she’d made of herself the first day, as well as having been taught how to properly skin and gut an animal for cooking. Once she’s cleaned the seal and started a fire, she props the seal up on a stick and sits next to it with her knife in hand, keeping a close eye on both her meal and the surrounding forest. She has no idea how close somebody could be, and she doesn’t want to be caught off guard when someone inevitably arrives.

It’s a while until someone does, however. Just as she’s checking the seal to see if it’s cooked completely, she hears the crunch of snow underfoot, and she whirls around to see a figure moving between the trees.

She waits until she has a clear shot at them and then throws the knife in her hand, and she feels surge of satisfaction as the figure stumbles back when the knife hits them.

In a second, she’s up on her feet and charging toward the figure; they’re not dead and she’s been expecting this for days and she’s not going to be killed before she can even eat. Without a weapon, she has to choice but to use her fists.

Her first punch clips Sidney’’s jaw, and he stumbles back from the impact. She goes to hit him again and ducks a wild blow easily. It’s then that she realizes Sidney has a knife, and if she isn’t careful, she’s going to wind up with more holes in her body, likely in more crucial spots this time.

She punches again and knocks him back a few more steps, but then he suddenly charges her, knife raised, and she’s the one backpedaling frantically. If she doesn’t do something quickly, she’s going to be hit, and that’s the last thing she needs right now. A hand she can deal with, but Sidney’s not aiming for those.

As she takes another step back, her foot catches on something, sending her sprawling to the ground. Her eyes fall on the downed tree branch, then at Sidney, who’s coming after her again, and with barely a thought, she grabs the branch, springs to her feet, and smacks the branch as hard into Sidney’s head as she can.

The impact knocks him to the ground, and Emma quickly jumps on him and pulls the knife from his hand and plunges it into his chest.

Her heart is pounding against her ribs and her hands are shaking and oh my god, she just killed someone. Underneath her, Sidney splutters, and blood dribbles from his mouth, and she watches as he dies and wants to throw up.

She moves on autopilot as she pulls her knife from where it had stuck his stomach and turns his body over to pull off his bag. Once she has, she stumbles away, back toward her fire and seal meat that is slowly burning, and collapses into the snow.

It’s not long before the hovercraft arrives, and she hides her face from the wind it blows at her and waits for it to leave. The wind blows her fire out, but her seal is more than cooked - and a little burned in her distraction - and she pulls it from the fire without a thought and begins eating it.

She doesn’t taste it as she chews; her mind is still on the glassy expression on Sidney’s face after he’d died - she’d killed him. The thought of it is enough to make her nauseous, and for a moment, she thinks she’s going to vomit the seal back up. Luckily, the feeling passes, and she forces herself not to think as she finishes the rest of the seal.

Once she’s finished eating, she feels better, more stable, at least in the physical sense, and she suspects it’s only adrenaline that had kept her going during her fight with Sidney.

She forces the memory out of her head and focuses instead on the contents of the new bag. There is a water bottle inside filled with ice, some of it already melted, and a pack of hand warmers, which she quickly activates and stuffs into her pockets. The other set is gone from the package, and she curses not checking Sidney’s pockets before he’d been taken away.

Carefully, with all of her attention on her movements, she replaces everything from the new bag into her own along with the blanket, tops off the canteen with fresh ice, and stands up, her legs shaking under her as she does.

She pulls her pack on and just as she’s turning to retrace her steps back up the stream, she hears a beeping sound that is the most welcome thing she’s heard since the Reaping.

The little parachute lands in the snow nearby, and she hurries over to it and rips the metal container open. Inside there’s a roll of bandages, and as her hand is still oozing blood from where the seal had bitten her, Emma thanks whoever had bought them for her and begins tying a strip off around her hand.

/

The rocks are coated with a layer of ice and are slippery and cold to the touch, but David keeps grasping for them and keeps pulling himself up because there are four Careers behind him, and he doesn’t want to be their next victim.

He continues to climb as fast as he can, and soon, he can see two other people above him climbing as well, though not at such frantic a pace as he is. They apparently haven’t noticed the Careers hurrying up the side of the mountain.

In retrospect, he’s not sure why he’d chosen the mountain area. It was already freezing down on the ground; what had possessed him to climb until the temperatures were even lower? However, it’s too late to regret things now. If he doesn’t pay attention to every handhold he chooses, he’s going to fall and things aren’t going to end well for him.

He hears one of the Careers yell something from below, and above him, the two turn back and David recognizes Neal and Aurora from Three and Eight respectively.

“Hurry!” he yells and repeats it when they just stare in shock and horror at the five people racing up the side of the mountain.

Now there’s seven people screaming and climbing up the mountain as fast as they possibly can, so it’s only natural that something - either nature or the gamemakers - have a problem with the situation.

There’s a low rumble that he passes off as his imagination the first time, but when the sound comes again, accompanied by a few rocks falling past him that he has to duck against the side of the mountain to stop from being hit by, he has a sudden sinking feeling that something terrible is about to happen.

His bad feeling is confirmed when Neal suddenly freezes above him and looks up. District Three is a very mountainous region, which is probably the reason why Neal had chosen this path in the first place, so he’s the first to identify what horror is now coming their way.

Another rock falls past David’s shoulder as Neal suddenly turns and starts climbing down the mountain, right toward the Careers! David opens his mouth to ask what he’s doing, but Neal is already yelling, his face as white as the snow.

“Avalanche!” he screams, missing a handhold and slipping several feet down the mountain. “Avalanche! It’ll kill you if you don’t get down!”

David’s not sure why he’s warning them, but he’s not about to question it. He glances down for a handhold and begins working his way back down as quickly as he can manage; a few more rocks fall past him.

Behind him, he can see that Belle and Mulan have heeded Neal’s warning as well, but the other two are still coming as fast as they were before, bloodthirst evident in their expressions. They must think Neal’s bluffing to get them to go away; they’re coming even faster now.

Neal skids past David, loses his balance, and begins rolling down the mountainside. He luckily misses the Careers, and they stare after him in obvious shock.

Then they turn back to David, and he knows in that moment that he’s going to die on this mountain one way or another.

He clings to the side of the mountain, unsure of whether to go up and risk the snow and very long fall back to the ground, or the bloodthirsty Careers below him. His decision is made for him a few seconds later as a huge wave of snow swallows him up and begins hurtling his body back toward the ground, overwhelming the Careers a few seconds later.

/

The sound of three cannon shots is enough to stop Regina in her tracks, and the others quickly stop as well, faces lifted to the sky. What had happened that three tributes had been killed in the span of a second? There had been no pause between blasts; they had all died at once.

All four of them look at each other, shock and fear evident in every face Regina saw, and she knew it was in her own as well. Something terrible had just happened, and they had no idea what it was or if they needed to be worried about facing it next.

Eventually after a few minutes of nothing stirring except the wind, Regina swallows and says quietly, “Let’s keep moving.”

In silence, the other three nod, and they begin walking once more.

/

That night, Emma once more scrapes out a spot in the snow to sleep, and she had no sooner finished than the Capitol anthem began playing.

She’d heard the three cannon shots earlier and wondered who else had died today. Had it been David, one or both of the siblings from Two, or even one of the Career pack? The last seems lucrative - she wouldn’t get that lucky - but Emma holds out hope.

The first face they show is Mulan, and Emma is shocked by the sight, despite her hope. She’s the last one Emma had expected to see; honestly, she’d been expecting Belle.

Neither of the siblings from Two are dead, and she releases a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding when the next face isn’t one of theirs. It’s Aurora instead, who Emma isn’t surprised to see. She wonders how the girl had lasted even this long with how atrocious she’d been in training.

Then it’s David’s face being projected into the sky, and Emma feels like her world is crumbling around her. Her districtmate, the one friend she has in this entire thing, has died, and she doesn’t even know how. She wants to hit something, to yell, to scream, and she indulges in yelling a bit and barely even registers Sidney’s face in the sky after David’s.

By the time she comes back to herself, wishing she’d been able to talk to him the day they’d entered the arena, wishing she’d gone with him instead of running off on her own, the anthem is over, and it’s silent except for the wind whistling in the branches of the dead trees.

She’s breathing hard and feels hot for the first time since entering the arena; her blood is boiling with anger, and she’s tossed her blanket into the snow and stepped on it a few times in her rage. She grimaces at the sight and scolds herself for abusing her only reliable source of heat.

So distracted she is that she doesn’t hear the approaching footsteps before it’s almost too late. It’s the cracking of a branch that brings her back to the present, and she whirls toward the sound to find herself facing Robin, who looks battered but otherwise unharmed.

Robin has a bow and Killian’s holding a spear, and she has two hunting knives and much less experience. It’s obvious who will win here if she fights.

So she turns and runs, frantically grabbing her blanket as she passes, and she sprints through the snow as fast as she can, picking up even more speed when she hears the sounds of pursuit.

She’s angry, yes, because these two are most likely the cause of David’s death, but she knows that if she tries to face them alone, she’ll be dead within a minute. She is no match for them; she needs to run and hide and hope someone else will take care of them instead.

There’s a large pine tree ahead with low branches, and without a thought, Emma lunges for it and pulls herself up as quickly as she can, praying that the Careers won’t notice her legs swinging through the air.

She keeps climbing until she’s high in the tree, and she can hear the Careers stomping around nearby, asking each other if he’d seen where she’d gone. She holds her breath, but neither of them says they had seen her, that she’d just disappeared, and she wants to sigh in relief but holds it in lest she give herself away.

Finally, after a few minutes of fruitless searching, Emma hears them leave, and she almost falls out of the tree in relief.

It’s cold up in the tree, she realizes a few seconds later, and her blanket’s stuffed down the front of her jacket so she could climb and she doesn’t want to let go of the tree lest she fall, and she doesn’t want to climb down in case the Careers come back.

She’s stuck for the moment, it seems, and Emma groans softly and rests her forehead against the bark of tree and resigns herself to waiting.

/

The sight of Mulan ‘s face with the dead tributes comes as a shock to Regina and the others. As the picture changes to Aurora, the four of them exchange worried looks. What had happened earlier to kill three tributes, one a Career?

At the sight of David’s picture, Regina wonders if Mulan’s death was because of Emma. If she had gone with her districtmate, she would have been there when David was killed. Had she retaliated for his dead and killed a Career? If she had, she’s definitely as dangerous as Regina has begun to suspect.

There’s no reason for the tributes’ deaths, however, and so any speculation is just that: speculation. Unless they come across someone who witnessed the deaths, they won’t know for sure what happened.

/

The next day is peaceful, likely because of the three simultaneous deaths the day before. For today at least, the Capitol will be sated. The day after that, however, is a different story. The people of the Capitol will become bored again and will want to see some action.

So on the second day after the three deaths, Regina and her allies proceed with caution through the forest, still following the river in hopes of finding a more reliable source of water.

Their suspicions are proven right when there’s a low growling from nearby. All they’ve seen so far are seals popping out of the river occasionally, which they had survived previously. But this thing sounds a lot bigger than a seal, and all of them drawn their weapons and begin searching the nearby trees for whatever is stalking them.

Something huge bursts through the trees, and Regina throws a knife at it before she even realizes what they’re up against.

It’s a polar bear, almost as tall as they are even on four paws, and it’s obviously angry at them for entering on its territory.

Regina’s knife sticks in the bear’s neck, but it doesn’t miss a beat as it charges them. They scatter as it approaches, and the bear swerves toward the closest tribute - and unfortunately the only unarmed - August. It lunges for him as he turns to run, and it’s faster than he is.

Blood spatters the snow, and August screams. Regina hurries toward the bear, unsure of what they’re going to do with her apparently useless knives but not wanting to see a tribute die by being mauled by a polar bear.

The bear swings a massive paw at the other three, and it catches Graham in the side and sends him flying away and crashing into the snow. Regina and Ruby hesitate as the bear swipes again, and before they can try to attack again, the bear turns and races back off into the trees, August’s limp body in its jaws.

If the gamemakers are trying to dissuade them from continuing, they’ve done a good job. It’s obvious they’re not going to find what they’ve been looking for; indeed, all they’ve done is lose a tribute to a wild bear who’ll likely play with his food before he kills it.

Ruby lets out a heart-wrenching scream and flings her axe at a nearby tree, and the force behind the throw buries it several inches into the trunk.

It’s several minutes before Ruby gathers herself enough to speak, but she doesn’t say much, just retrieves her axe from the tree and tells the other two, “We go back.”

Neither Regina nor Graham want to argue, so they obediently turn and begin retracing their steps, Ruby leading the way.

/

Ruby offers to take first watch that night, and Regina lets her, wondering if she’ll still be there when they wake up. It’s likely she won’t. For one, she’s outnumbered now, and if they wanted to, Regina and Graham could easily overpower and kill her and be one step closer to winning.

And for two, her only friend in the arena - her best friend, Regina had heard - is dead now, dragged off while still alive by a polar bear. That would make anyone want to be alone.

Sure enough, when Regina stirs later, the moon is still high in the air but the spot where Ruby had sat to watch is empty and already half-filled with snow where it had begun snowing earlier.

Regina sits up and draws her blanket tighter around her.

/

The sound of someone approaching stirs Emma from the light doze she’d slipped into. She sits up straight and almost falls out of the tree from the sudden motion; luckily, she catches herself before she does and holds tight to the tree as she pulls one of her knives out of her boot.

She stays very still and watches as two people appear through the trees. It takes her a few seconds to place them as Neal and Belle because both of them are covered in blood and one of Neal’s arms is bent at an unnatural angle.

Emma hesitates, unsure of what to do. She could leave the safety of the tree and help them, but she doesn’t know if there are others nearby. If someone is following them, they could all be in trouble soon.

Eventually, her curiosity at what had happened to them wins out, and she climbs down from the tree and approaches them, ignoring their surprised expressions.

“What happened?” she asks, holding her hands up and hoping it will stop them from attacking. Not that she can see any weapons on them, but that’s beside the point. She’d been keeping her knives in her boots.

Neal coughs and manages to say, “Penguins,” which makes Emma wonder how hard he’d hit his head.

She turns to Belle instead and repeats her question, and Belle’s response is luckily more sensible. “There was an avalanche in the mountain area. That’s what killed the three tributes. Luckily, we were only injured. And, um,” she glances sideways at Neal, who looks to be drifting in and out of consciousness, “we were attacked by a flock of penguins.”

“Penguins?” Emma deadpans. “You’re serious?”

Belle nods and motions down at Neal’s leg, which Emma now notices is ripped open and still bleeding profusely. “They did that when they caught us. He shielded me and took most of the damage.”

The absurdity of the fact that penguins are one of the dangerous creatures in the arena is enough to make Emma want to give up right now and go crawl back up a tree. She suppresses the urge, however, and looks back at Neal’s leg.

It’s sickening to look at it, and it’s glaringly obvious that it would take some incredible Capitol medicine to heal a cut so deep that the bone is visible, and all she has is a roll of bandages. Not to mention they’re down to the final eight as well; things from sponsors will cost even more now with so many tributes dead.

She knows nothing is coming, and she can tell Belle knows too. Neal’s too far gone for any help now; all that’s left to do is wait for him to die or put him out of his misery.

Emma’s hands begin shaking at just the thought of killing another tribute, much less one who can’t fight back, so she just helps Belle sit Neal under one of the trees and settles down to wait.

A short while later, Neal’s head sags forward, and the cannon sounds. Wordlessly, Emma stands up and walks far enough away that the hovercraft can pick him up, and Belle follows her more slowly, Neal’s pack on her shoulders.

The hovercraft comes and lifts Neal’s body away, and without a word, Emma and Belle begin walking side-by-side, Emma supporting Belle as they do. She isn’t as injured as Neal. None of her bones are broken, but she’s heavily bruised and walks with a limp. But she doesn’t complain as they walk, and Emma’s grateful for the silence.


	3. Chapter 3

The Careers don’t even try to mask their approach; Regina hears them coming almost a full minute before she sees them and warns her brother, who responds by dropping his pack and clenching his fists, a frown on his face.

Killian doesn’t falter at the sight of them waiting; he plows straight toward Graham, spear angled to go straight through his stomach. Graham easily dodges and retaliates with a hard punch to Killian’s back between his shoulder blades.

An arrow just misses Regina and sticks into a tree behind her. Robin’s standing several feet away, already preparing for another arrow. He’s obviously not trying to conserve his ammunition, apparently assured of his victory.

Unfortunately for him, Regina has no intentions of letting him win, and he just manages to dodge the knife she throws at him. It lands in the snow, and Robin releases another arrow as Regina throws again.

Robin has to physically twist out of the way of the second knife, so he’s unprepared for the third that sinks deep into his stomach. Hurriedly, he pulls another arrow from his quiver and fires, and this one Regina is a half-second too slow to dodge.

The arrowhead pierces her in a similar spot to where her knife had landed in Robin, and she backpedals a few paces from the sudden burst of pain up her body. Robin, apparently sensing an opportunity, fires again, and Regina just barely manages to dodge it.

“Why’d you run off on your own anyway?” Killian asks from nearby, and out of the corner of her eye, she sees Graham throw himself out of the way of a fierce jab of Killian’s spear. “Did you think yourselves too good for the other Careers? Decide to run off and hide until everyone else was dead?”

Graham doesn’t reply, just throws another punch that Killian dodges. The spear swings up abruptly and clips Graham’s jaw, and for one horrible moment, Regina thinks her brother is about to be skewered.

But Graham lets out an enraged cry and lurches toward Killian and slams a fist directly into Killian’s chest. The blow winds Killian, who coughs, and then there’s a wet crunch as Graham sends a fierce uppercut crashing into the bottom Killian’s jaw.

Killian sputters and staggers back several paces and catches himself on a tree. He spits and blood flecks the snow, and when he smiles, his teeth are stained red with blood. Regina suspects the blow from Graham had caused Killian to bite his tongue, and from all of the blood that Killian’s spitting out, he’d bitten rather hard.

The sound of a bow being drawn brings Regina’s attention back to Robin, who had paused to watch the other two momentarily as well. He’s notched an arrow now, his fingers white around the string, and Regina prepares to dodge when he releases it.

There’s a loud cry from next to them, and when Robin glances away for a brief moment, Regina takes advantage of his distraction to toss a knife to her brother. He catches it, and as he looks down at Killian, Robin seems to realize what’s happening.

He releases the arrow he’d been holding for the past minute, but Regina’s prepared and easily sidesteps it and throws a knife of her own just as the cannon fires. The knife hits Robin in the lower back as he’s fleeing, and Regina curses the loss but is glad that he’s gone.

Killian’s face is panicked when she glances at him, and his hands are grasping at the gaping wound in his throat, but his eyes are unmistakably glassy. The sight of his body drains the adrenaline out of her, and she sinks to her knees as her body throbs in pain.

Graham is covered in blood when he steps in front of her, and he looks worried as he studies the arrow buried in her stomach. He reaches down to touch the arrow hesitantly, then wraps his hand around it and breaks the shaft off.

Before he can do anything else, there’s a low beeping sound and something silver falls into the snow beside them. They both stare at it for a moment before Graham springs into motion and leans over and lifts up the parachute.

There’s a vial of Capitol-issued medicine inside, and Graham doesn’t hesitate to break the seal and sniff it. “It’s strong,” he says, and holds it out to her. She trusts his judgment, though and waves it away.

He dabs some of it onto his cheek and pauses for a few seconds before deciding it’s safe to use and nodding and setting it back on the ground. Then he rolls up his sleeves, gives her a sympathetic look, and reaches for the arrowhead in her stomach.

/

They’ve stopped on the banks of a river when Emma hears the sound of a twig breaking. She whips her head around and stares in the direction the noise had come from, but there’s no movement, no sight of anyone. But she’d heard something; someone was there, and that someone didn’t seem to want to be found. She keeps her knife out just in case.

So Emma turns back to the river where Belle is still piling ice into the canteen, either completely uncaring that someone else is nearby or completely oblivious. Emma is leaning more toward the latter.

It isn’t until Emma has killed a seal a few hours later that their stalker reveals themselves. Emma recognizes Ruby as she falls out of a tree with considerably more grace than Emma had earlier.

“What do you want?” she asks tersely, fingers tightening on the handle of her knife.

But Ruby just lifts her hands and looks at her with a tired expression. There’s no fight in her eyes, just a glaze she recognizes as someone grieving. Something had happened to August then; he must have been the reason for the cannon earlier today.

There’s still an axe on her belt, though, so Emma doesn’t lower her knife, even as Ruby points a finger at the dead seal, making a point to keep her hands as far away from her belt as she can. “I just want some of that, and then I’ll be gone.”

Emma’s instincts say to turn her down, but before she can even open her mouth, Belle has already opened hers and agreed. The fact that this girl is so willing to give things up to any enemy, a dangerous enemy at that, completely baffles Emma, but she resolves to go along with things and keep her knife within easy reach.

She wants to ask why Ruby has approached them - it couldn’t be just for the food, Ruby could easily find that herself - but she keeps her mouth shut as Ruby gathers wood for the fire and then helps cook and warns them about the polar bears and that Regina and Graham aren’t with the other Careers.

Neither piece of information comes as a shock to Emma. The polar bears simply because everything other arctic creature is after them, and the latter because she’d known since the first day of training that Regina and Graham didn’t like the rest of the Careers.

In return, Belle speaks of the avalanche that had killed three tributes and that she’d seen a tribute eat the snow and then die - to which Ruby nods and mumbles that she’d seen something similar - and of the penguins that had attacked her and Neal. Initially, Ruby thinks Belle is joking about the penguins but quickly sobers once she realizes she isn’t.

Emma has nothing to add, so they finish eating in silence. Once they all have, Ruby strands, quietly thanks them, and then turns to leave, but before she’s even taken three steps, Belle is on her feet as well and asking to go with her.

“Why?” Ruby asks.

“Because you look like you need company, and I’ve no reason to stay with Emma. I’m nothing but a hindrance to her.”

Ruby gives a wan smile as Emma winces and looks away. Had she been that obvious about her misgivings? “And you won’t be with me?” she asks dryly, and Belle frowns but doesn’t back down.

“I will be less. You would appreciate the company.”

Slowly, the bitter sneer on Ruby’s face melts away until she simply looks like a lost child unsure of what to do. “Okay,” she says quietly, briefly meeting Belle’s eyes before staring down at her boots instead. “C’mon.”

She turns and disappears into the trees after a nod to Emma, and Belle scampers after her without looking back.

Emma sits there long after the sound of footsteps has faded, lost in her thoughts. She doesn’t understand why anyone would want an ally right now with only six people left. Any normal person - as normal as a tribute could be, that is - would be severing all bonds right now. They’ll have to turn on each other eventually; what’s the point?

Eventually, she pushes the matter aside with the realization that she’ll never understand, that Belle is just a much better person than she is. She stands up and covers her fire with snow and gathers her belongings in silence before turning and starting toward the center of the arena.

With only six tributes remaining and them all likely spread across the entire arena, the gamemakers would soon guide them all together; why not get a head start and maybe not be sent running across the arena when she least expects it?

She walks for a few hours in almost complete silence, and she’s grown so used to it that she doesn’t register the sound of weapons behind her until it’s too late.

There’s the sound of metal scraping, and she whirls with her hands high in the air to see the siblings from Two staring her down with their weapons raised, poised to attack. The sight of them drains all the fight out of Emma; it would be stupid to fight back. They would kill her before she could even lay a hand on them.

“I don’t want to fight right now,” she says, and after a minute, they seem to believe her. Regina lowers her weapon first, and after a brief glance at her, Graham does the same.

It’s incredible to Emma that he doesn’t even question her judgment, just follows her lead. There’s an incredible bond of trust between the two that indicates years of closeness, and she doesn’t understand why Graham had volunteered. At least one of them is going to die; both of them can’t make it out.

Regina’s movements are stiff as she replaces her knife into a pouch slung over her shoulder, and Emma frowns and wonders if they’d been attacked and she had been injured. That would definitely account for her movements, but she’s not brave enough to ask, not when she’s seen how accurate Regina is with those knives.

“You’re alone?” Regina asks, and she sounds surprised at the fact. What had she been expecting? Emma doesn’t have anyone in the arena like she has Graham; she hadn’t been close with David until they’d been Reaped.

“Have been,” she answers in a tone that conveys what she’s thinking to Regina, who frowns and shakes her head. “What’s it to you?”

Regina gives a smile that looks almost predatory, and the sight of it puts Emma on edge. “Because you scored high, and there’s still one Career around here somewhere.”

“I’m not with Robin, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“On the contrary, I’m worried he’s coming after you after he failed to kill us.”

Well, that explains the wounds the two of them are obviously nursing. Robin and Killian must have attacked them earlier and lost. It’s kind of surprising considering training scores. Both of them had been higher than the siblings, but it’s obvious Regina and Graham are more dangerous than their scores would have people believe. Obviously if they’ve survived this long - though so has Belle, and Emma has seen firsthand that she’s completely hopeless.

“I’ve been alone for a few hours. He would have attacked by now; I haven’t been paying as much attention as I should, as you noticed.” She waves a hand at the spear in Graham’s hand, remembering with some irritation at herself at how the two of them had taken her by surprise. “He’s probably after Ruby.”

Regina seems to agree. “How about joining us until he’s dead then? The three of us should be more than a match for him.”

Despite her initial urge to agree, Emma pauses and considers her options. If she joins Regina and Graham and kills Robin, the only remaining tribute who has a chance to beat the two of them is Ruby. Without Robin, the two of them will be even more dangerous than they already are.

Eventually though, she has to admit that she’d rather face merciful opponents than Robin, who undoubtedly plays with his victims before he kills them. If it comes to it, Emma would rather die quickly than suffer.

“Okay,” she agrees, and both of them smile at her, though Graham’s puts her more at ease than Regina’s.

/

She trusts them about as far as she can throw them - which isn’t far - but she’d rather face them than Robin so she doesn’t have much of a choice.

And it’s obvious Regina doesn’t trust her either because when she volunteers to take first watch that night, Regina turns her down immediately and says she’ll do it herself. Emma wants to argue that she’s spent a lot of time at home listening for dogs coming into the animal pens to kill the chickens, but she lets it go because if she was in Regina’s position, she’d be doing the same thing.

She doesn’t sleep, though, just dozes with a hand on one of her hunting knives. Beside her, Graham is fast asleep with a hand loosely wrapped around his spear, and she wonders how he can be so at ease. She hasn’t had a good night’s sleep since before the Reaping.

He obviously trusts Regina, that much is obvious, but he apparently also trusts his sister to cut Emma’s throat if she tries anything. Or maybe he trusts her. Emma hasn’t been able to get a good read on him on his thoughts, but he’d acted nice enough since she’d joined them, helping her skin and cook the seal they’d killed.

Something moves nearby, and Emma opens her eyes and squints off into the trees. She can’t see anything because of how dark it is, but she had definitely heard something. Someone is nearby, and it’s likely they’re not as friendly as Ruby had been.

Regina doesn’t seem to have noticed it, but Emma keeps searching, hoping to find the person before someone ends up dead. Her own movements catches Regina’s attention, and she looks over her shoulder and frowns at her.

“I heard something,” Emma says quietly before Regina can ask.

“I didn’t,” Regina replies, sounding irritated.

Emma glances over the trees again, straining her eyes to find something out of place. “I’ve spent more nights than you have listening for dogs. I heard something.”

Even out of the corner of her eyes, she can see Regina’s lips thin dangerously, but she keeps searching, intent on finding their pursuer and proving she’s right. Then, just as Regina opens her mouth, she sees a shadow move and recognizes the outline of a bow.

Without a second thought, she launches herself at Regina and knocks her to the ground just as an arrow whizzes through the air and sticks into the bark of the tree behind where Regina’s head had been seconds before.

Whatever Regina had been about to say dies in her throat as she stares at the arrow in the tree. Then she looks up at Emma, who’s crouching over her and scanning the trees again - the shadow has disappeared - and her eyes are wide with surprise. Were she not in such a dangerous situation, Emma might have laughed at her expression.

Then she catches sight of the shadow again, crouched at the base of a tree and obviously trying to hide, and she moves to stand only to realize that she had dropped her knife in her haste to protect Regina. So she instead looks down at Regina and reaches for the pouch of knives. Once she has one, she hesitates briefly and meets Regina’s gaze.

The surprise is still evident on her face, but there’s something else that she wants to call gratitude but doesn’t want to risk being wrong. Whatever it is, though, it makes Emma want to kiss her, and once she realizes what she’s thinking, she quickly sits up, takes aim, and throws the knife at where Robin is crouched.

Once the knife’s left her hand, she ducks again, and it’s not a moment too soon. Just as she does, another arrow embeds itself in the tree. Robin’s not giving up despite his first miss, and Emma is glad he isn’t. Maybe they can finally kill him now.

Graham stirs as Emma stands up and starts running toward Robin, and within a few seconds, he’s up and following her.

At the sight of the two of them hurrying toward him, Robin hurriedly scrambles to his feet and turns to flee. Emma goes to grab the knife that’s in her boot, but before she can, Graham pulls back his arm and throws his spear.

It’s a perfect shot, and the end of the weapon goes clean through Robin’s chest. He falls to the snow, and when Emma reaches him, he’s grasping at the end of the spear sticking out of his chest and trying in vain to push it out.

The knife she’d thrown is stuck in his shoulder, and as Emma pulls it out and wipes the blood on Robin’s jacket, he coughs up a mouthful of blood and glares at her. His mouth moves, but nothing but garbled noises come out.

Despite the fact that he’d tried to ambush and kill both herself and Regina, Emma doesn’t want to watch him die. Holding the knife tight in her hand, she turns and starts back toward where Regina has sat up and is watching them.

Regina watches her all the way back and only seems to register Emma holding her knife back out to her once it’s been waved in front of her face a few times. She takes it from her hesitantly, as if she doesn’t believe Emma’s actually returning the weapon to her. And maybe it’s stupid and will get her killed in the long run, but it belongs to Regina so Emma feels she should return it.

“Thank you,” Regina says quietly as Emma sits down beside her. Emma nods and wraps her blanket around herself, and Regina continues to look at her for a few moments before she adds, “And not just for the knife,” and turns away.

If Emma didn’t know better, she’d think Regina was blushing. She chooses not to draw attention to it, though, and just smiles into her chest and says, “I’ll watch now. Get some sleep.”

Unlike earlier, her offer isn’t met with a dirty look. Regina just nods and shifts backward until she’s resting against the tree.

Barely a minute later, the cannon fires, and not long after that, Graham returns, bloody spear in hand. He nods at Emma as he sits down beside Regina, and she takes it as thanks for saving his sister and nods in return.

He spends the next few minutes washing the blood off his spear with the nearby snow, and once he’s finished and it’s been quiet for a while, she glances back over her shoulder to see that Graham has pulled his sister against his side and is fast asleep again.

Regina, however, is still awake and rubbing her thumb over the back of her brother’s hand where his bigger one is folded over hers. It’s the softest she’s seen Regina, and Emma looks away back at the trees and hates that both of them can’t survive.

/

Since Robin had died in the night, Emma had expected to split from Regina and Graham - the peace had only been until Robin had died - but upon turning to leave, she had been stopped by Regina, who had said it would be stupid to split ways here only to meet up again in a few hours. Emma had been hesitant, wondering if this was some plan to kill her when her back was turned, but she agreed nevertheless and joined the siblings to the clearing.

The river curves away from the clearing where the Cornucopia is, so they stop at the bend to wait to see if Ruby and Belle appear. All three of them had agreed it would be foolish to go and wait out in the open, so they stay far enough into the trees to see the clearing but not be easily noticed.

They break some of the ice of the river and eat it as they wait, and none of them speak much as they do. There’s really no reason to; as soon as the others appear, they won’t be allies anymore.

The fact that they won’t puts Emma on edge, but she pushes down the feeling and tries to focus on watching the trees for Ruby and Belle, if they’re still together. It’s entirely likely they’re not; there’s no point to allies at this point in the game.

For a while, nothing moves, and Emma begins to wonder if something has happened to stall the others. She’s been staring long enough now to have noticed if someone else is here; it’s just the three of them.

Then, without any warning, the other two remaining tributes burst out of the trees and make a direct beeline for the Cornucopia in the middle. Emma quickly stands up, wondering what could possibly be chasing them if she can see all five surviving tributes from where she’s standing.

Her unspoken question is answered when a flock of penguins emerges from the trees, flapping their flippers and squawking loudly as they waddle after Ruby and Belle at a remarkable pace.

“Penguins?” Graham asks, and he sounds shocked. He turns to Emma and asks, “Why are they running from penguins?”

“Because those aren’t normal penguins. They killed Neal.”

Graham has an expression on his face like he thinks she’s lost her mind, but a scream from Belle turns him pale. A penguin had managed to catch up with Belle and sunk its beak into her.

Before Emma can manage to move, Ruby’s skidded to a stop and spun, axe taking out a penguin as she does. She hurries back to where Belle had been downed, swinging her axe viciously; even the sound of the cannon doesn’t slow her in the slightest.

With Belle down, most of the penguins turn to Ruby, who doesn’t seem to notice, and as they advance on her, Emma finally moves her feet and takes off at a sprint toward the flock of penguins surrounding Ruby.

Something whistles past her, and a second later, Graham’s spear skewers one of the penguins, but that’s not nearly enough to keep Ruby safe.

Graham reaches them before she does, and he grabs up his spear just as a knife lands in the neck of a penguin that had tried to pounce on him. Regina, who has been oddly silent the last few minutes, is running to help as well.

It happens almost too fast for Emma to see. One second, Graham is standing tall and easily dispatching the penguins around him, and the next, a penguin has sunk its beak into his leg, sending him to the ground.

Regina screams and another knife lands in a penguin’s back, and Emma turns to run to his side, but it’s like time has slowed to a crawl. There’s no way she’ll be able to reach him; she knows before she even hears the confirmation what’s going to happen.

The sound of the cannon reverberates in Emma’s ears, and she freezes in shock as Regina shoves past her toward where her brother had fallen. It’s too late, she knows, but she doesn’t stop Regina, just hurries after her and draws her knife. The least she can do is keep her safe.

Emma stabs her knife into one of the penguin’s ripping at Graham’s body with its beak, and she sees another fall with a knife in its back. Regina crouches down over her brother, and Emma turns so her back’s to them, knife raised.

She sees Ruby fighting over the heads of the penguins. Her clothes are ripped horribly and she’s absolutely covered in blood, but she’s fighting with the strength of three people. Through the penguins, Emma catches sight of Belle’s body behind Ruby and realizes she’s doing the same thing for Belle that she is for Graham.

A few seconds later, Regina steps up to stand beside her, eyes red and teartracks on her cheeks, but when she swings at the nearest penguin, she’s no less dangerous than she’s been the rest of the time.

Together, the two of them are a good match for the penguins, each keeping the other safe as well as stopping the damn birds from reaching Graham’s body to continue mauling it.

The cannon fires again, and Emma’s head whips up to find that she can’t see Ruby. She’s gone too.

Then, as if on command, the penguins freeze in unison before turning and waddling away. Just like that, they’re leaving, as if they hadn’t just killed and mauled three people.

Emma watches their progress in shock, and despite one of their number falling from a knife Regina throws, the flock doesn’t pause and keeps waddling toward the treeline. Regina raises her arm again, but Emma holds up a hand to stop her. There’s no point; the penguins don’t seem to be a threat to them anymore.

For a moment, she thinks Regina is going to throw the knife anyway, but then she lowers her arm, knife held loosely in her fingers. They watch in silence as the penguins disappear out of sight into the forest until it’s just the two of them alone with three dead tributes and a lot of penguin corpses.

Emma can’t bring herself to do more than watch helplessly as Regina turns and returns to her brother’s side. Regina crouches next to him, and Emma can hear her say something but can’t make out the words. She’s fairly sure she wouldn’t want to anyway. She would feel like she was intruding; she’d barely known Graham.

A sudden gust of wind is almost knocks Emma off her feet, but she manages to steady herself and looks up to see that the hovercrafts have arrived to take away the bodies of the dead tributes. They’re going to take Graham.

She knows Regina has noticed them too, but she watches uneasily as the hovercrafts linger overhead. While they shouldn’t try to take the bodies away until they move, Emma wouldn’t put it past them to try and hurry them up.

But they wait as Regina says one last thing to her brother, kisses him on the forehead, and then stands up and moves away so his body can be taken away.

Regina’s backed up against the Cornucopia watching the hovercrafts, so Emma crosses to stand beside her. They stand in silence as the three tributes are lifted up by the hovercrafts and taken away until the air has settled and they’re alone, just the two of them.

In the back of her mind, Emma knows that only one of them can leave this arena alive, and she’d known ever since her name had been pulled from that bowl. Only one tribute can live, no matter the circumstances. No matter if the tributes are friends, siblings, or allies.

One of them has to die, either Regina or herself. There’s no avoiding the one rule of the Hunger Games.

And standing there on the bloody grass surrounded by dead penguins, Emma realizes just how much she doesn’t want to kill Regina. She had killed Sidney because he’d attacked her first, she’d killed Robin because he had tried to shoot Regina; the entire time she’s been in the arena, she’s never killed anyone in cold blood.

She can’t kill someone who still has dried tears on her face and who’s just watched her brother die and be taken away. Only one of them can leave, and it’s not going to be her.

Just as she decides that she’s going to have to die, Regina suddenly drops to the ground beside her and pulls her knees up to her chest and buries her face in them. She’s been strong this entire time; it’s a wonder she hasn’t broken down until now.

Hesitantly, Emma sits beside her, and she’s completely out of her depth here. How do you comfort someone after what had just happened? She has never been good with tears in any situation, but she definitely doesn’t know how  to deal with this one.

The snow’s cold and she can feel it begin to soak through her pants, but she can’t be bothered to clear a place right now. They sit there together for a few minutes before Emma hears a soft sound and realizes that Regina’s crying again, in a way that’s obvious she’s trying not to let everyone in the Capitol know.

Something inside of Emma breaks at the sight, and she shifts and reaches over and pulls Regina against her side. Briefly, she feels Regina stiffen at the sudden motion, but then she relaxes and allows Emma to hold her.

Emma makes sure to keep her expression carefully neutral, not wanting to let on that Regina has finally broken. If she doesn’t want them to know, Emma will keep her secret. She can feel her jacket beginning to soak through, and she tightens her arms around Regina and wishes they were in any situation but this one.

They sit in silence for a while, Emma holding Regina close and wondering when the Capitol would tire of this and do something to provoke them. The first thought that passes her mind is Mutts, and she shivers at the thought. She’s seen plenty of Capitol-made Muttations over the years; she has no desire to see one up close.

It’s quiet, though, and nothing horrible leaps out of the trees to attack them. The sun begins to set and the wind picks up as it grows darker, and Emma pulls Regina closer in hopes of keeping her from freezing. The wind is biting out here away from the trees; she had taken the forest for granted.

Finally, Regina shifts in her arms, and Emma loosens her grip on her. Regina doesn’t go far, just shifts around and lets her head fall on Emma’s shoulder. Her eyes are red when Emma looks at her, but other than that, there’s no sign she’s been crying.

“Can we put this off until tomorrow?” Regina’s voice is so quiet that Emma almost can’t hear it over the howling of the wind.

It’s not much of a decision; she’s barely thought of anything else while they’ve been sitting here. She can’t kill this girl now. Hell, she’s not even sure she could kill this girl if she attacked her. So she just reaches over and takes Regina’s hand and squeezes it as answer.

They sit there in silence as the sun slowly sets, and as the temperature begins to drop, they pull their blankets out of their bags and huddle together underneath them. It feels much colder than it has the rest of the time they’ve been in the arena, which makes Emma wonder if the gamemakers are purposefully dropping the temperature to try and spark a fight between them.

If that’s their plan, though, it doesn’t work. They just sit together as close as they can and pull the blankets tight around them and try to ignore the wind cutting across the clearing.

Neither of them speaks, and despite the roars of polar bears, the barking of seals, and the howling of what sounds suspiciously like wolves, nothing disturbs them. For whatever reason, the gamemakers are letting them have one last night of peace. Emma stifles her curiosity as to why and just focuses on gripping Regina’s hand, even after the cold has numbed her fingers.

Finally, the first streaks of dawn appear, and still neither of them speak as the sun slowly climbs above the treeline.

Once it’s passed the tops of the trees, Regina shifts and sits up, and Emma feels off without the weight of her head on her shoulder. She’d grown used to it through the night. But their time’s up, and one of them is going to have to die soon. The response if they don’t will be much worse.

The only word Emma can think of to describe Regina’s expression is tired when she looks at her. She looks absolutely drained, and not just from staying awake all night. Her brother’s death has obviously taken a lot out of her.

Regina clears her throat and shifts so she’s facing Emma, but she doesn’t let go of Emma’s hand. When she speaks, she sounds just as exhausted as she looks. “You saved me,” she says, and immediately, Emma knows what she’s going to say next. She opens her mouth to stop her, but Regina ignores her and keeps talking.

“You saved me even though you had only spoken with me once, and that if I wanted to, I could have killed you at any time. But you didn’t hesitate.”

“You don’t owe me anything,” Emma interjected hurriedly before Regina could continue. “I’m not just going to sit there and watch someone die. I couldn’t live with myself.”

The smile Regina gives her isn’t comforting by any means, and it only further cements what she suspects is coming. “Nevertheless, I have no reason to live. I’ve lost my brother; there’s nobody waiting for me outside the arena.”

Emma wants to ask about the rest of the family, but there’s something in Regina’s expression that makes it clear that any family she has left isn’t important to her. So instead, Emma changes tactics.

“You handled the games way better than I did. You had a strategy from the moment your name was drawn. When we were dropped in the arena, I didn’t even have a plan anymore; it stopped after the interviews.”

But Regina just smiles a sad smile and slowly gets to her feet, brushing the snow off herself as she does, as if they’re not currently discussing who’s going to die. She offers Emma her hand, and after a moment, Emma takes it and allows Regina to help her to her feet.

When she’s standing, she tightens her grip on Regina’s hand to keep her from pulling away; she knows in that moment that there’s no convincing Regina to take the victory. The look in her eyes is one of pure stubbornness. She’s not going to budge an inch.

“Go back. Win. Live your life,” Regina says more quietly, gripping Emma’s hand so tight that it’s painful, but there’s a gleam in her eyes that says she wants Emma to do more than that. Even at the end, Regina is still fighting, and Emma can’t even force an argument from her throat, thick as it is.

She may not be able to convince Regina, but if she goes back, she’s sure as hell going to fight against the Capitol for everything she’s been through in here. They’ve killed her friends - because yes, she realizes now that some of them could have been truly good friends - and she’s not going to forgive them.

So she steels herself and steps forward and kisses Regina, and to her surprise, Regina immediately responds, pulling her hand from Emma’s loosened grip and wrapping her arms around Emma’s neck.

It stretches out for a long moment, Emma’s hands anchoring at Regina’s waist and her fingers curling in the hem of her jacket. Emma savors it and commits the feeling to memory, determined to remember this moment when the Capitol inevitably realizes what she’s trying to do and reacts.

They part, and for a minute, they simply stand there leaning into each other, and Emma opens her eyes to find that Regina’s are closed and her breathing is slow and even. She’s incredibly calm for someone facing death, and Emma wonders if she’s savoring the moment as well.

Then her eyes open and meet Emma’s, and Regina smiles, just a quirk of her lips. They’re so close the cameras aren’t likely to notice it; this smile is for her and her alone. Emma returns it, their current situation momentarily forgotten.

The moment ends too quickly, however, and in the blink of an eye, Regina has pulled out one of her knives and there’s suddenly blood everywhere. Emma freezes at the sight of it, her hands shaking at the sight of the blood pouring from Regina.

When Regina’s legs give out, Emma starts into motion and grabs Regina as she slumps against her chest, arms tightening protectively around her.

Carefully, she sinks to her knees and lowers Regina to the ground, and she tries and fails not to cry when she notices the wistful expression on Regina’s face as she looks up at her. It’s obvious she’s fading quickly, but she nevertheless summons the strength to speak.

“I hope there’s an afterlife,” she says so quietly that Emma has to strain her ears to hear, “so we can meet again.”

The tears are coming in earnest now, and Regina is blurry as she lifts a hand to her neck and pulls at something there. Emma doesn’t realize what it is until Regina is weakly pressing it into her hand, and she looks down and sees that it’s a necklace with a dreamcatcher charm. Her token for the games; Emma hadn’t even known she’d had one.

Emma looks back at Regina’s face. She wants to say something, anything. She wants to tell her she’ll avenge her and everyone’s death in these games, wants to say she hopes there’s an afterlife as well, but she just leans down and presses a kiss to Regina’s forehead, the necklace cutting into her palm painfully, and then the cannon fires and the sound of it tears her world apart.

/

Everything is a blur after the cannon. Emma floats through the post-arena interviews and continuing invasion of her privacy before she goes home and is finally left alone, giving one word answers to questions, flinching every time someone mentions another tribute, and refusing to speak of either Regina or Graham no matter how much she is questioned.

When she finally comes back to herself, she’s sitting in her new house in the victor’s village in District 10. She can hear her mother moving around downstairs, humming as she does, and Regina’s necklace is cutting into her palm where she’s clutching it so tightly.

She relaxes her hand and looks down at her palm. There are red marks across it from where she hasn’t let the necklace out of her sight since leaving the arena, but there’s barely any pain.

Regina had wanted her to fight. She had wanted justice for her death, her brother’s, and everyone else that had died in the arena. And how had Emma fulfilled her wish? By sitting in her room for three months moping.

No more, she decides, and clutches the necklace in her hand and brings it up to her lips. She’s going to fight back and avenge the deaths of the kids in the arena, because that’s what they were. They were kids, forced to fight to the death for the amusement of the Capitol.

She takes the stairs slowly, wary of falling, and when she rounds the corner into the kitchen, her mother immediately stops what she’s doing and turns to face her. Her expression is hesitant but hopeful, and Emma takes a deep breath before she speaks.

“Mom,” she says, and her voice is hoarse from lack of use. She clears her throat and continues, “I want to fight.”

Mary Margaret’s lips turn up into a smile, and she crosses the room and pulls Emma into a tight hug that Emma curls into. She’d forgotten what it felt like to be held; she feels safe for the moment, something she’s sure she will never feel again.

/

Emma wakes up in a pasture, the sun streaming down on her, the birds singing happily, and she wonders where she is.

“Emma,” she hears, and she starts at the sudden noise from so close by. Warily, she turns her head and feels her heart stutter to a stop when she realizes who she’s looking up at.

Regina looks like she did before they were sent into the arena: rested and healthy and smiling at her, though it’s noticeably less cold now.

Slowly, Emma sits up, making sure to not take her eyes off Regina for fear of her disappearing if she does. If she’s imagining this, she doesn’t want to come back to reality. She reaches out to Regina with trembling fingers, afraid her hand will pass right through, but Regina is solid and warm under her touch and her smile widens as she reaches up and wraps her fingers with Emma’s and squeezes.

Then she laughs, and Emma frowns at her, confused as to why. Regina grins brightly at her - unusual but not unwelcome - and chuckles. “I was right,” she says, and then Emma smiles and pitches forward to hug her as tightly as she can.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Link to antisocialgod's work:
> 
> http://swanqueenbigbang.tumblr.com/post/83306730846/art-antisocialgod-share-the-love-with-these
> 
> Link to ecchymoz's work:
> 
> http://ecchymoz.tumblr.com/post/83529503401/so-we-can-meet-again

**Author's Note:**

> Whether Emma killed herself or was killed by the Capitol is left up to interpretation. (Personally, I think she wouldn't give them the satisfaction, but I left it ambiguous, so...) However, the fact that Emma fought against the Capitol before she died is heavily implied.
> 
> I want to thank the mods for creating this event, and I'm looking forward to the next one, even if I don't participate!


End file.
